1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to reflective safety garment and more particularly to a reflective safety garment designed and configured to be worn over existing article of clothing so as to offer exceptional viewing capabilities of the wearer during dark or inclement weather, ultimately providing visibility of the wearer to others for inherently offering safety to the user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that pedestrians, construction workers, and the like are hit by a motor vehicle injuring or possibly killing the individual. This devastating occurrence can possibly be avoided if the individual were to take precautionary measures, such as wearing a garment that would offer visibility of the wearer during dark or inclement weather. This will provide an apparatus that will offer safety to the user and inherently reduce injury and/or death generally associated with those who are outdoors and are in the vicinity of motor vehicles or the like.
As such, devices have been developed to address this need. For example, one such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,436 issued to Alexander et al. This patent discloses a device for protecting people by offering visibility during dark or inclement weather. This apparatus comprises a vest fabricated from colored, reflective material as well as providing a means for the device to be lighted.
In addition, reflective vests are also known in the art and are commonly used on construction sites. These vests are standard in size and are commonly fabricated from an orange reflective material.
Though the vests identified above do offer protection to the wearer, they are silent as to the use of a vest ideally suited for students, professionals, couriers, or those who utilize back packs or the like. What is needed is a device that not only offers protection, but one that can be easily placed over a user regardless of their size, shape and items they may have on their person. This device should be storable, adjustable, and easy to put on so as to offer a device that can be successfully utilized by any individual regardless of their age, dexterity and mental magnitude.
As will be seen, previous efforts do not provide the benefits intended with the present invention, such as providing a device that can be adjusted and one that can be worn by any individual, regardless of size and other items being worn by the user. Additionally, prior techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component elements as disclosed and claimed herein, as identified above. The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objectives and advantages over the prior art device through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements, which is simple to use, with the utilization of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, assemble, test and by employing only readily available material.
The present invention is a vest device designed and configured to offer visibility to the wearer when exposed to dark or inclement weather. This vest device is designed to be adjustable and can easily fit on a user and over items the user may be carrying and/or wearing, such as a backpack or the like.
In order to accomplish this, the reflective garment device of the present invention comprises a front panel coupled to a rear panel via adjustable side straps. This will provide for the reflective garment to include a front, back and adjustable side straps when worn.
Each section includes at least one reflective strap and/or element secured thereto, so as to provide for the device to illuminate when dark or when the user is in inclement weather. The rear or back panel includes a flexible mesh material centrally secured thereon. Secured to this flexible mesh material is a panel fabricated from conventional reflective material. In this design, should the user be wearing a backpack, then the mesh material can extend for accommodating the backpack, while the panel offers reflective capabilities. When a backpack or the like is not worn, then the material would return to its normal and not extended position.
Additional elements or features can be added to enhancing the final product. The garment device of the present invention can include side wings secured to the front and back panels so as to innately increase the surface area of the front and rear section so additional reflective material can be located thereon. This will offer more visibility of the present invention when worn. In addition, compartments and the like can be provided so as to offer storage capability of the vest when worn.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a safety garment, which will overcome the deficiencies, shortcomings, and drawbacks of the prior art and methods thereof.
Another object of the present invention is to provide for a safety garment having the capability of adjusting in size and including the capability of accepting and accommodating items in tow, such as back packs and the like, without being bulky when not in use and in a storable position.
A further object of the present invention, to be specifically enumerated herein, is to provide a safety product in accordance with the preceding objects and one which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple design and easy to use so as to provide a product that would be economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free.
Although there have been many inventions related to a reflective article, none of the inventions address the need for accommodating a back pack or the like, so as to allow for a device that can fit over any wearer, such as students, couriers, professional, hikers or the like. The present invention is sufficiently compact, low cost, and reliable enough to become commonly used. The present invention meets the requirements of the simplified design, compact size, low initial cost, low manufacturing cost, ease of wear and maintenance.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and application of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the detailed description of the preferred embodiments in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.